Remembrance
by Shlane
Summary: On the 11th of November the team gather to remember those they have lost


Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, or the poem that Jack recites near the end, people from the UK will probably recognise it but they may not know that it's actually from the poem 'For The Fallen' by Laurence Binyon.

Title: Remembrance.

Author: Shlane

Rating: K

Character/Pairing: Team, slight Jack/Ianto

Spoilers: TW S2, speculation for S3 casting, minor for the end of DW S4.

Notes: Unbeta'ed, didn't have time since I wanted to get this out before 11/11. The inspiration came from attending our Remembrance Sunday parade and service at out local cenotaph today; bits of it are incorporated into this short story.

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In the remembrance of all those who died in the World Wars and subsequent conflict.

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They'd meant to come on Sunday but an outbreak of Weevils had resulted in them running all over Cardiff trying to corral them, amazingly they had succeeded with no loss of life, though there had been a fair amount of property damage. Still they hadn't finished until well into Monday morning and had spent the rest of the day recovering from the all-nighter.

Now it was the morning of Tuesday the 11th November and the five members of team were gathered in front of the cenotaph. Mickey and Martha hung back as Jack, Ianto and Gwen approached, each carried either a wreath or a posy of poppies.

It was a simple cenotaph, one of thousands up and down the country that named the locals who had died fighting in the two world wars and stood as a memorial to all those who had died in conflict since. A paved area surrounded by a waist high metal fence, in the centre three white stone steps that lead up to a simple obelisk carved with a Celtic cross, the names of the fallen and a simple phrases, though not visible from where they stood Jack knew from past visits that the far side was carved with the words: For your tomorrow we gave our today.

They were not the first to visit, on the steps were poppy wreaths and posies no doubt placed during the service of remembrance that had taken place on Remembrance Sunday two days earlier. The messages on them stated that they had been placed by the local branch of the British Legion and the War Widows, the various ages of the boy scouts and girl guides, the local branch of St John's ambulance and other groups or individuals who had someone to remember, both old losses and recent.

Jack looked over the names of those local men and boys who had made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War, he didn't know if he'd ever met any of them but that didn't matter, they had been his comrades, everyone in the trenches had been a comrade regardless of where they were from. And the same was true in the Second World War.

Under the names were the words: We Will Remember Them. A statement and a promise. They had been so young, some of them only boys when they went to fight but they had returned men. Those that returned at all, far too many had been buried in foreign soil near where they had fallen.

Jack stepped forward and laid his poppy wreath, on it was a simple message: In memory of all those who served with Captain Jack Harkness. Stepping back to stand between Ianto and Gwen Jack paused for a moment to remember those he had served with both in the Wars and at Torchwood, the team he had lost at the millennium and Tommy, who he had sent back to his death just as he had sent so many other young men, and women, to their deaths over the centuries. With them all in his minds eye he saluted the cenotaph.

Ianto stepped up next; he too held a wreath that he placed beside the one Jack had lain. His carried the message: In memory of those who did their duty for Queen and Country.

That had been Hartman's favourite saying and had been the unofficial slogan for Torchwood One. There would never be a memorial to them, as there was to the soldiers who had died in the Great War, but they had died fighting to defend their country from invasion just as these men had ninety years earlier. Even if he could only place a memorial from them once a year he would.

He stepped back and stood beside Jack; he bowed his head briefly and then looked back up at the cenotaph. Gwen went last and unlike the men she carried a small posy of poppies. She placed the bunch on the stone step just in front of the two wreaths, a tear came to her eyes as she read the message attached to the posy: In memory of Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper, they gave their lives so others could live.

She stepped back and bowed her head as Ianto had done, behind them the sounds of footsteps told them that Martha and Mickey had joined them, Martha standing beside Gwen and placing her hand on her arm as the other woman wiped her eyes of unshed tears while Mickey stood beside Ianto.

They observed a minute's silence, remembering those who had died and paying their respect to the fallen then Jack spoke the traditional words of remembrance. "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."

"We will remember them." The other four answered.

"When you go home tell others," Jack finished, "For your tomorrow, we gave our today."

They stood in silence for a few moments longer until Ianto felt his PDA vibrate in his jacket pocket, he pulled it out and read what was on the screen. "There's an alert come in, some sort of space craft over Tenby."

Jack took a deep breath, "The end is where we start from." He repeated the words he had spoken to Ianto and Gwen after they had found Tosh's final message. He glanced at his team, his gaze lingering on Ianto slightly longer. "Let's go team." He turned towards the exit, Ianto beside him and the others falling into step as they headed back to the SUV and the defence of their home from invaders, just as the fallen had done decades earlier.

The End

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